“The Magdala Stone, found in Israel, is forcing scholars to revisit ideas about synagogues and their relationship to the Second Temple around the dawn of Christianity.” Very interesting find!
Source: A Carved Stone Block Upends Assumptions About Ancient Judaism – The New York Times
“The overall point to be made is the Seventh Circuit did not relegate the Second Amendment to a “second-class right” as Justice Thomas claims. History refutes such a conclusion. The fact of the matter is the modern perception of the Second Amendment as guaranteeing broad firearm rights in both public and private is just that—modern.”
Source: History News Network | Justice Thomas Needs a Lesson in the History of the 2nd Amendment
“From the Islamic State to Sri Lanka, modern people are looking to connect with an ancient past.”
This is nothing new. Golden Age myths have long been useful to ambitious demagogues. This narrative is at the heart of all nationalist movements. The basic formula consists of a simplistic narrative of a glorious past of a particular group (whether national, ethnic, or religious) whose decline must be explained. Someone must be responsible this decline. Enter scapegoat (usually a marginalized, feared, or hated minority). The same pattern can be seen from Nazi Germany, to Slobodan Milosevic’s Serbiain the 1990s, as well as the present movements from Donald Trump (“We’re going to take our country back”) to Vladimir Putin in Russia, to the Islamic State, etc.
The anecdote is not less history, but more history. The distortions of these white-washed histories and their purposes need to be exposed. The comforts these narratives provide do not justify their existence. The consequences are too dangerous.
Source: The Return of History – The New York Times
Another great book review for Lori Eshleman’s Pachacuti. If you love history or historical fiction you’ll love this novel. “It is an engaging read solidly grounded in historical authenticity and animated by expert storytelling.”
“Marine Le Pen’s party capitalises on Paris attacks to win 27-30% of national vote, the highest the party has ever scored in a local election.”
I hate being right sometimes! This was totally predictable. Why do we never learn from history? Do we really need to repeat the twentieth century? Haven’t we learned that radical political leaders peddling hate will only lead us down the path of death and destruction? These supposed “strong” leaders are nothing but bullies!
At this point, I don’t think they (and I include Donald Trump in this) can win. However, if the economy takes a turn for the worse or some other tragic event occurs before the election it is possible.
Source: Front National wins opening round in France’s regional elections | World news | The Guardian
This is a wonderful story on the anniversary of the attack on Pearl Harbor: “By Karin Stanton HONOLULU (Reuters) – Former U.S. airman Jack DeTour, 92, and Japanese fighter pilot Shiro Wakita, 88, sworn enemies during World War Two, together poured whiskey from a battered canteen into Pearl Harbor on Sunday to commemorate the 1941 attack on the U.S. naval base. As the sun rose over the USS Arizona Memorial, the two former enemy pilots joined the “Blackened Canteen” service on the eve of the 74th anniversary of the Dec. 7 attack, which took 2,403 lives and drew the United States into World War Two. Standing side by side after meeting for the first time ever, retired Air Force Colonel DeTour and former Imperial Japanese Navy Zero Pilot Wakita together gripped the war-torn U.S. military-issue metal canteen and poured whiskey into the watery grave of the U.S. Navy ship sunk by Japanese bombers.”
Source: Pearl Harbor ceremony unites former U.S. and Japanese pilots – Yahoo News
Simic sums up the sad state of our current situation nicely: “The coverage of our elections has a fairy tale feel to it. Our national press pretends that they are dealing with men and women of principle, offering carefully thought-out solutions to our nation’s problems, rather than groveling servants of billionaires who finance their campaigns; and that the voters these candidates try to persuade in the primaries are well-informed and well-meaning Americans and not people who by and large get their information from Fox TV and hate radio.”
Source: Sticking to Our Guns by Charles Simic | NYR Daily | The New York Review of Books
Definitely not! Brian Glyn Williams sums up the problem nicely: “The dangers of giving into ISIS’s baiting of our emotions are real and could lead to another Operation Iraqi Freedom-style quagmire in two countries this time, instead of just one. Should the U.S. once again repeat the ill-conceived adventurism of Bush Jr. (which got us into the bloody slog that created ISIS out of the secular Socialist Baathist regime that ruled Iraq up until the US invasion) and invade Syria and Iraq, it will play directly into the hands of the ISIS fanatics. They are deeply entrenched and have dug into the towns they dominate with tens of thousands of fanatical fighters. They control an area today that is much larger than their lands in Iraq where they were defeated back in 2007 only with 168,000 U.S surge-reinforced troops and with the crucial help of 103,000 Sunni Anbar Awakening fighters (who it should be stated are no longer with us, they are now primarily with ISIS).”
Read Williams’s well-reasoned case against sending in troops against ISIS: History News Network | Should the U.S. “Reoccupy” Iraq and Invade Syria?
“Saul Cornell is a leading authority on the history of U.S. gun regulations. Here’s how he views conservatives’ claims that gun control is racist.”
Very interesting: A Historian’s Revealing Research on Race and Gun Laws – The Trace
History Chick in AZ 